Wielding the Thunders Across Two Worlds

Yazhou was actually much more stable than Jiangzhou.

The Daoists of Daluo Palace had long since made their presence known in Celestial Spring Prefecture and Qinglan Prefecture, in northern Yazhou. It wasn’t that there were no evil factions within these two prefectures, but they weren’t the dominant power.

To date, the most significant villain Gu Zhao had slain in Yazhou’s two northern prefectures was still the Wolf Demon from Thousand Peaks Mountain, Mo Qianlang.

The mention of Mo Qianlang reminded Gu Zhao of Red Moon Valley. Red Moon Valley was in the Southern Border, and judging by the attitude and actions of that woman in red during the battle at Wuya Ridge, she was clearly no saint.

"Do you know of Red Moon Valley?" Gu Zhao asked Xue Bingbing.

"I do. They’re a faction of moderate size in the Hundred Thousand Mountains of the Southern Border. The Red Moon Valley Master, the Red Wolf King, is quite famous." Xue Bingbing pursed her lips. "Infamous, I should say."

"How so?" Gu Zhao asked.

"Red Moon Valley isn’t actually that deep into the Southern Border. Besides the Red Wolves, there are several other Wolf Races in that area. However, the Red Wolf King has the highest Dao Practice, so the other Wolf Demons all defer to him.

Red Moon Valley itself is a large river valley where many mountain folk live. But instead of protecting them, the valley has allied with the surrounding Wolf Races to treat the people like livestock.

I’ve heard that on every full moon, Red Moon Valley holds a grand banquet. They select the ’most tender’ of the mountain folk from the valley. The chosen ones cook the feast... and they *are* the feast."

Hearing Xue Bingbing’s words, Changyi and the other two couldn’t help but grimace. They had roamed the martial world and seen their share of man-eating, soul-devouring Demons and Ghosts, but this was on another level. Eating people was one thing, but what kind of twisted fiend made them cook the meal themselves?

"Back then, Mo Qianlang’s ’game’ involved forcing two people to kill each other." Gu Zhao nodded. "It seems to run in the family."

"Sect Leader..." The three young Daoists looked at Gu Zhao expectantly.

"Don’t be so hasty. They’re in the Hundred Thousand Mountains of the Southern Border, which is a different world from the Central Plains Dynasty," Gu Zhao said with a smile. "Once we have enough information, we’ll take care of it all in one decisive blow."

They all nodded in agreement.

"That’s why increasing your strength is what’s most important. If the three of you had Ten Thousand Years of Dao Practice right now, I wouldn’t have to think so much. I’d just send you to charge in, and you’d kill anyone who got in your way," Gu Zhao added.

Changyi craned his neck in exasperation. "You sound just like a middle school teacher. Sect Leader, you’re only twenty-five. You’re younger than we are."

"Is that so?" Gu Zhao mused, stroking his chin. "I suppose responsibility really does make a person mature. I feel like the position of Daluo Palace Master is putting far too much pressure on me."

Yangshuo and Zhan Qing couldn’t help but roll their eyes. They had seen Gu Zhao sunbathing in his courtyard at Daluo Palace, surrounded by a flock of beautiful women.

’And you call that pressure?’

Xue Bingbing watched them from the side, her curiosity piqued. She was surprised they dared to be so familiar and informal with their Sect Leader. A glimmer of envy flashed in her eyes.

Though she was lively herself, she only dared to act cute and spoiled in front of her own mother. She would never dare to joke like this when facing the Snow Goddess.

However...

Wait!

’Your Sect Leader is only twenty-five?!’

Xue Bingbing’s eyes widened in utter disbelief.

"Alright, I’m heading back," Gu Zhao told them. "You all can travel together. With Snow God Mountain watching over Yazhou, there aren’t as many Demons and Ghosts causing trouble here as there are in Jiangzhou and Yongzhou.

Also, Elder Yan Qi is in Yazhou these days. If you run into a Sect Leader Level expert and I happen to not be around, you can ask him for help. At least he’ll be able to get there quickly."

Yangshuo added, "We ran into Taoist Xu Ning a few days ago. She and Jingyi are in Yazhou, too. From the profound way she was breathing, it looked like she’s on the verge of a breakthrough as well."

Gu Zhao was taken aback. "That fast?"

Changyi grinned. "Well, Taoist Xu Ning is getting on in years!"

Gu Zhao thought for a moment. Among the Daoists he had brought from Lao Mountain, Taoist Xu Ning was indeed the eldest and had the highest Dao Practice.

’Alright then,’ Gu Zhao thought. ’It looks like Daluo Palace is about to have its first Kun Dao with five hundred years of Dao Practice.’

...

After watching Gu Zhao depart as a streak of Escape Light, a curious Xue Bingbing sidled up to Zhan Qing. "Your Sect Leader is really only twenty-five? Is he the reincarnation of some powerful expert, cultivating all over again?"

"Huh?" The three of them whipped their heads around. Zhan Qing asked, "People can do that? Reincarnate and cultivate again?"

"Reincarnation, possession... you don’t know about these methods of cultivating anew?" Xue Bingbing asked, surprised. "You managed to wipe out the Nether Fire Sect, but you’ve never heard of this?"

The three of them exchanged a look before Zhan Qing tried to bluff his way through. "Daluo Palace was secluded from the world for a long time. There are some... uncommon matters we’re not too clear on."

"Oh." Xue Bingbing didn’t doubt them. After all, the three of them seemed to be of good character, and there was no faking their Daluo Palace Master’s level of Cultivation.

Besides, "Reincarnating to cultivate again isn’t common anyway," Xue Bingbing said. "Some masters with profound Dao Practice, who have no hope of Ascension in this lifetime and are unwilling to simply die when their time is up, will condense their soul into a True Spirit. They might then be reincarnated as an infant or possess another living creature.

But to condense a soul and become a new living being requires at least three thousand years of Dao Practice. And even then, unless you encounter some heaven-sent opportunity, you’ll never reach the same level of Dao Practice you had in your previous life.

So, not many people actually do it. For one, there are very few masters with three thousand years of Dao Practice to begin with. And most of them wouldn’t do something so... degrading.

Furthermore, a Ghost God reincarnated as an infant usually dies before the age of eighteen, and a Demon that possesses a young beast will have the body of a Demon Beast. Neither of them would reach their twenties in the human body of a Mage."

Xue Bingbing stated with great seriousness, "So your Sect Leader is definitely not someone who has reincarnated to cultivate again!"

"Of course our Sect Leader isn’t," Zhan Qing said with conviction.

Then he began a discussion with Changyi and Yangshuo via spiritual message in their Sea of Consciousness. ’But could the Sect Leader be some big shot from the Taoist Sect who descended to the mortal world?’

Changyi and Yangshuo were speechless. "..."

’Whoa, now that you mention it!’ Changyi transmitted, his mental voice full of wonder.

’The Thunder Department Celestial Monarch, descended to the mortal realm?’ Yangshuo chuckled mentally. ’It couldn’t be the True Spirit of the Universal Transformation Celestial Venerable himself, come down to the Lower Realm, could it?’

Xue Bingbing watched the three of them stare at each other, wide-eyed. "What are you all looking at?" she asked curiously.

"AHEM, nothing!" Zhan Qing coughed twice, suddenly unsure of how to face Xue Bingbing.

Xue Bingbing, on the other hand, wasn’t awkward at all. "Daluo Palace is in Jiangzhou. Are you here in Yazhou to travel and gain experience?"

"That’s right," Zhan Qing nodded. "Traveling the martial world, Exorcising Demons and Evil Spirits."

Yangshuo added, "Doing Good Deeds and Accumulating Virtue, punishing the wicked and eliminating evil."

Changyi thought for a moment before adding, "Tempering our hearts in the mortal world to advance our Dao Practice."

Xue Bingbing’s eyes lit up. "In that case, you probably haven’t been to Songyun Prefecture yet. There’s a small sect there called the Heart Wheel Sect. They’re bad news and have been known to slaughter commoners."

Changyi asked, "Doesn’t Snow God Mountain do anything about it?"

Xue Bingbing shook her head. "As long as they don’t go too far or reach into Jing’an Prefecture, Snow God Mountain won’t get involved. After all, we used to have the Xuanwei Divine Sect and the Spirit Court to deal with."

Yangshuo checked, "What’s the Dao Practice of that Heart Wheel Sect’s leader?"

"He’s pretty weak, definitely less than five hundred years of Dao Practice," Xue Bingbing said.

Zhan Qing looked at Changyi and Yangshuo. The three of them nodded in unison. "Then let’s go!"